General Surgery

Program in General Surgery
Approved Positions: 10 categorical; 4 preliminary
Funded Positions: 10 categorical; 4 preliminary

Message from the program director 
The General Surgery Residency Program at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland first received Residency Review Committee approval on April 17, 1953. Since that time, the program has offered a fully accredited 5-year program that is designed to meet or exceed the ACGME/RRC for Surgery requirements and prepare graduates for the American Board of Surgery examination. Historically, most of our graduates have entered directly into general surgery private practice. Recently, however, we have seen an increasing number of graduates choose to continue their education in subspecialty fellowship training programs.

In the last 5 years, our graduates have entered fellowship programs in the following specialties:

• 2012 - Vascular Surgery at Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University Hand Surgery at Westchester Medical Center in NY
• 2011 - Minimally Invasive Surgery at Texas Endosurgery Institute
• 2010 - Breast Surgery at Emory University and Cardio-Thoracic Surgery at Texas Heart Institute
• 2009 - Advanced Laparoscopy at Harvard University
• 2008 - Minimally Invasive Surgery at Florida Hospital Colorectal Surgery at The Ferguson Clinic

The program is based at SJMO, a 428- bed comprehensive community hospital. Of the 60 months of training, 58 are completed at SJMO with two one-month outside rotations for transplant and burn surgery. We look forward to meeting candidates from across the country that are interested in and value an excellent postgraduate training program in Surgery.

Program structure
A resident entering into the program can expect an increasing level of responsibility throughout the five years. The fifth post-graduate year of training provides the resident with ”Junior Attending” status by placing the resident in a position of leadership for one of two general surgery services and the Staff Surgery outpatient clinic.

Residents at all levels will find a diverse and large volume of cases available to them. Scholarly activity is stressed with every resident completing at least three research project leading to presentation or publication. Residents perform 200 to 250 major operations as chief resident and 900 to 1,000 major operations throughout the five year program. In addition, there is an excellent patient and case mix, a large number of complex general and subspecialty cases, upper and lower endoscopy and an ever growing number of advanced laparoscopy and robotic cases.

Academic program
Our program at SJMO pioneered the formal teaching of basic surgical sciences within a community surgical Residency Program. The teaching faculty of the General Surgery Residency Program have worked to continue to develop a structured didactic lecture series and conference schedule to complement the diverse experience gained through direct patient care and the operative experience for our residents. The SCORE curriculum is integrated into the academic program. To assure resident availability and attendance, conferences are held during protected time.

• Weekly Conferences
  • Morbidity & Mortality Conferences
  • Applied Surgical Anatomy and Physiology o Clinical Surgery lectures
  • Critical Care and Trauma
  • Multidisciplinary Breast Tumor conference
  • General Tumor conference
• Monthly Conferences
  • Multidisciplinary GI Tumor conference
  • Journal Club
  • Research Meetings
  • Skills/Simulation Labs
  • Ethics conference

The General Surgery program at SJMO adheres strictly to the ACGME policies and procedures regarding duty hours. In-house night call is conducted in a team atmosphere with assistance from more senior residents readily available. Residents entering the program can expect the following:

• In-house call for PGY I resident On Night Float for 4 weeks
• In-house call for PGY II and III residents every four to five nights
• In-house call for PGY IV and V resident every three to four nights
• Structured night call schedule and responsibilities based on PGY level in the program

Application requirements
Applications must be filed electronically through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). To qualify for an interview, you must have graduated from medical school within the last 3 years. Preference is given to candidates with first attempt scores of 80 or higher on Steps 1 and 2 of the boards. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, permanent residents of the U.S., or possess a J-1 visa or work authorization card.

For more information on the General Surgery program, please call 248-858-3234.